Small banks in Tanzania are now increasing the interest paid on deposits and lowering charges on loans and advances. By A JOINT REPORT (email the author)

Posted Saturday, July 14 2012 at 12:44The dominance of Tanzanian's two largest banks by assets is threatening the existence of smaller and medium sized banks, which now have to raise fresh capital, look for cheap deposits and expand branches to remain competitive, a new report shows.

CRDB and NMB control 34 per cent of all loans and advances, government securities and other banking assets, leaving the other 43 banks and financial institutions to fight it out for the rest of the market.

The small and medium sized banks are now increasing the interest they pay on deposits while lowering their charges on loans and advances as they bridge the gap with the top banks, says a report by Tanzania Securities, a Dar es Salaam based stock broker.

"It's a double edged sword; the mid-tier banks have to pay more on deposits and charge lower rates on loans. This, of course, means their cost to income ratio will be relatively higher and their profit margin lower," said Magabe Kibiti Maasa, a research analyst at Tanzania Securities.

The key advantage for the bigger banks is their ability to mobilise cheaper deposits owing to their large branch network. For example, as of 2010, CRDB, FBME and NMB banks accounted for 54 per cent of all bank branches in the country. They also held 52 per cent of all customer deposits.

NMB, which listed at the Dar es Salaam Securities Exchange in 2008, is a partly government-owned bank, where all the salaries for public employees are channelled. Its asset base is Tsh284 billon ($182 million).

CRDB, also listed at the stock exchange, has assets valued at Tsh254billion($162 million).

Meanwhile, DCB bank, considered to be among the smallest banks in the county, has assets of Tsh16.5 billion ($ 10.3 million) and only eight branches, compared with NMB's 142 branches.

Their huge deposit base give the big banks advantages in that they can offer cheaper deposits to customers, while also lending to small banks in the interbank market. With the interbank rate - the interest banks charge other banks for lending money to them - ranging from 6 per cent to 13 per cent, the bigger banks are able to make substantial amounts from lending to their peers.

"There is already substantial liquidity in the system, but these funds tend to be held unevenly, with some banks [i.e. NMB, CRDB] holding the bulk of it and others experiencing shortages," the analysts said.

But even then, analysts note, the two banks are facing challenges. NMB, for example, faces operational risks resulting from the steep growth in its business volumes, which has placed significant pressure on its ICT infrastructure.

"However, the bank has engaged a consultant to review and assist in the implementation of its ICT platform. The bank has also increased its staff complement commensurately with the pace of growth in the network," the analysts said.

But perhaps the bank's biggest risk could be the rumoured impending move by the government to close its account with the NMB in favour of using the Bank of Tanzania's branch network.

"If the proposal materialises, it will have a significant impact on the bank's low-cost funding source and thus its underlying returns to shareholders," note the analysts.